Daughter of Eve
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: When the Daughter of Eve sought out Aslan, would He grant what she desired or maybe even more?


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't...

Summary: What does it mean to be Valiant?

A/N: This story was requested by Scribe of Heroes and is part of my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe. This story is based on the suggestion for an expansion on the encounter between the Daughter of Eve and Aslan at the Stone Table originally described in _A Light in the Darkness: Veiled_. Enjoy!

**Daughter of Eve**

**Part One: To Narnia**

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"Naomi."

She flinched when Bar touched her back as the constant pain multiplied and threatened to bring her to her knees. But she couldn't fall again. She could not bear to have another bone break and the increasingly long recovery. Naomi looked into the polished mirror and cringed inside at how old she looked compared to Bar. Her husband was still the virile epitome of manhood at but six and thirty. Only the worry in his grey eyes marred his handsome face. She was thirty but to look in the mirror, to look at her lank mousy brown hair that had lost all its luster and thickness over the last four years, at her sallow complexion and sunken cheeks and how her fine dress hung like a sack on her emaciated frame, one would think she was Bar's grandmother. She was nothing like the girl Bar had wed twelve years earlier. Why did he stay with her? He could have cited her wasting sickness and the lack of children as reason to break their marriage vows and cast her off without fear of ostracism. But he still stayed.

There was nothing left that could be done. That is what she had heard the healers tell Bar when they all thought her caught in an exhausted sleep last week. But the pain kept her awake and stole her breath constantly. And she had heard them declare that this twelfth year of pain would be her last. It had begun so slowly at first, an odd lingering pain along her spine and hips, but she had thought nothing of it. Now she could not escape thinking of it for it permeated her every breath. She should be grateful to escape the pain, but she had seen the way Bar collapsed to his knees after the healers left. She had seen his broad shoulders curve in as he begged the Great Lion to tell him why this had happened, why his prayers had gone unanswered. She did not want to leave him.

"Naomi?"

She held out the letter from her cousin Elisabet. Bar took it. His grey eyes slowly rose to meet hers. "It is too far. The healers have said you are not to travel even as far as Anvard. Why would you travel to Narnia?"

"Because He is there." Naomi rested a bony hand on his arm. "I must see Him. He has come and I must go there."

"No. I will find another healer for you. It is said that the Calormenes have made strides in curing the wasting sicknesses. I will seek one of them out. Or perhaps a healer from Narnia, Sootwing or Asclepius, they are great healers and do not hesitate visit the border villages as your cousin can attest. Surely venturing further into Archenland would be no hardship for them. Let me send to them as well."

"Bar." Naomi paused then continued gently, "You have already summoned the very healers who tend the King and his family. They all say the same. There is no more hope from the healers. I must go to Aslan. Perhaps He will not heal me but at least I can ask Him to not let you suffer. To help you to love again, to love ano-"

"No!" Bar's harsh tone softened as soon as he carefully cupped her sunken cheek. "No. I do not regret these twelve years we've had together. All I regret is that I have failed to find a solution for this sickness that steals you from me, lass. I care not if I must sell another ten head of my war horse stock, I will find a healer to save you."

Tears filled Naomi's eyes as she recalled the fine young yearlings Bar had sold to pay the healers. How could he bear to sell off his father's legacy? Their small horse farm was on the verge of failing if he continued to sell the horses meant to be trained as chargers for knights…all for her miserable sake. "Bar. I must go to Him. In Narnia."

Her husband took her frail, bony hand and cradled it as gently as if she were made of eggshell. There was grief in his eyes. "I cannot accompany you, lass. Danin is coming to inspect the dun. But, I will send for your cousin Elisabet to send her nephews to drive you by wagon into Narnia. I will ensure it is the best sprung wagon of the lot as well."

True to his word, Bar created the most comfortable bed in the back of the wagon. Pillows and comforters and coverlets all stuffed with the softest eiderdown to ease the battering of the road. And his finest pair of heavy draught horses whose footing was as steady as the mountain goats. Naomi pretended not to see the despair written across the uncharacteristic slump of his shoulders when the healers shook their heads. Their warnings were dire. If she went to Narnia, she would not survive the journey home even should she, by some miracle, survive the first leg of the journey. Bar lifted her from their bed and carried her to the wagon, gently placing her on the soft makeshift bed. Ignoring the little stifled gasps of shock from the teenage nephews of her cousin, Bar tucked the coverlets over her and then brushed a light kiss against her forehead. "I love you, Naomi."

Naomi closed her eyes against fresh tears. "Bar." She tried to say more but a harsh cough stole the words she so wanted to speak.

Her husband brushed the tears from her cheeks with a gentle tenderness then he nodded. "I know, lass. I know."

A moment later, he stepped back and nodded to the young men. They chirped to the horses and the wagon lurched into motion. Naomi pretended the movement didn't send a hot lance of pain through her. She watched until the house and the man standing beside the paddock finally passed out of sight. Then and only then did Naomi close her eyes. She did not know if she would survive the journey but if not, she prayed that the Great Lion would bring him a woman who would love him as completely as he deserved. And a woman who would be able to give him the children so long denied to him.

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**A/N: Please Read and Review!**


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